Consumerist Identites

 

Consumerist Identities

By Mike Garofalo

I enjoyed days and days
studying the 'New York School' poets
like Frank O'Hara and John Ashbery
so carefully that
suddenly realized
not watched TV for a week
missing, regretfully, hours
of commercial advertising:

for new hair from Dr. Bosley
for drugs to end pain in the knees
for cars driving on empty streets
for fresh French fries from Burger King
for expensive jewelry for a wedding ring

and cuisine delivered in plastic pans
and cheap airline flights to Japan
and fun family adventures in Disneyland
and for cruise ship travel to old Holland

or upcoming sitcoms filled with laughs
or fertilizer sold by Irishmen for green grass
or young men to replace your car's broken glass
or free hospital services for children handicapped

some grocery deals from a Fred Meyer's store
some maids to hire to clean dirty floors
some dogs to save from abusive horrors
some promos about Trump the Savior

or pills to save me from dizzy spells
or new dresses worn by skinny girls
or new movies with walking dead ghouls
or churches selling band-aids to sorry souls.

Geeezzz! To think
about what I missed.
To buy, and buy, and buy
till my wallet's empty
and my edited mind
was hypnotized till blind.

The average American
watches 30 hours of TV per week,
that means watching 900 commercials
to rattle your dulled brain.
Add 24 hours of Internet surfing
per week, enough ads to
fry you fingers and your eyes.

Consumerism is now America's Identity.

But business is business,
a sales a sale, work is work, man to man,
a rocks a rock
::: tautologies:::

Turn the TV off!
Be Free!

25 Steps and Beyond: The Collected Works
By Mike Garofalo